The Iberia Cultural Resources Association hosted their 14th annual Prelude to Spring concert with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra at St Peter’s Catholic Church Sunday afternoon.

The orchestra played a variety of tunes both classical and symphonic as well as some from Broadway shows. They started the evening off with a high-energy selection of songs from “West Side Story” followed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Minuet” from Symphony No. 39. This “Minuet” was traditionally a dance performed at balls for royalty, and included a six-step choreography. Next up was a duo of songs from the play “Peer Gynt” including “Anitra’s Dance” and “In the Hall of the Mountain King”.

Following these performances, conductor David Torns brought soprano singer Andrea Mouton on stage for “Musetta’s Waltz” from opera “La Boheme”. Before starting the song, Torns explained the story and background of the piece, as it is sung in Italian. The singer, Musetta, is essentially trying to capture the eye of her ex-boyfriend through a vain description of her relationship with the people. This was Torns favorite piece of the evening.

“It has so much character, and once the audience knows the story a little bit, it makes it that much more appealing since they know what she’s talking about. It really comes through the music so much,” Torns said.

The orchestra continued with eight songs all unique from one another, including Antonin Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dance” No. 1 from opera 46, Johann Strauss’s “Pizzicato Polka”, F. Lowes “I Could Have Danced All Night Long” from “My Fair Lady”, “Libertango”, “I’ve Got Rhythm” and “Somebody Loves Me” by George Gershwin, and finally “Saturday Night Waltz” and “Hoe-Down” from the ballet “Rodeo”.

Torns explained that these songs demonstrate the professional skills of the orchestra as they require the musicians to rapidly and drastically switch genres. The same was said for Mouton, who sang four separate songs throughout the evening. Despite such a variety in song, the orchestra only received the music two weeks ago.

The next ICRA free event will be Symphony Sunday in the Park with “The Best of American Pops” Sunday, April 7 at 3 p.m. in New Iberia City Park. The ICRA encourages attendees to bring a picnic lunch to the event. A beverage booth, balloon artists, and music by Andy Smith will be available at 1 p.m.